Page 75 of Summer Heat
He held it out to her.
She took the blanket and settled in on the lumpy futon, looking right at home. Oreo curled up on her lap to get rubbed, his ass hanging off because he wasn’t a puppy anymore.
Well, wasn’t that cozy. He scowled. “I’d offer you something to drink but I don’t have anything except water.”
Lia’s expression was playful, as if she knew a secret he didn’t. Hell, she knew a whole passel of secrets he didn’t. Like what the hell she was doing here. “I figured you were roughing it when I found out the address. But I didn’t realize it would be this… Survivor Man.”
He shoved some magazines off a crate and sat down opposite her. “How did you find out the address?”
“Uncle Griff.”
Damn. She’d met his Uncle Griff at Ethan’s high school graduation, when she had already been dating Chris. Uncle Griff had taken to Lia hard and fast. Why can’t you find a girl like this one? his uncle had asked, then laughed like it was hilarious.
Then Ethan had punched him in the face.
No, he hadn’t. But he’d thought about it. Griff had seen his interest in Lia, and that was why he gave him a hard time. A girl like her? No, he wanted the real thing. He wanted Lia, but he couldn’t have her.
“Why are you here, Rosalia?”
“Oh, I’m Rosalia now. Well, you can relax, okay? Chill. I’m just here to chat.”
“What am I, a book club? I don’t chat.”
She shook her head sadly. “I’m afraid you’re wrong, Ethan. You’re very chatty.”
He shot her an annoyed look, even though it felt so damn good to be near her again. Especially because
it felt so damn good. “I’ve never chatted in my life. Once I clicked into a chatroom by mistake and then left before saying anything.”
She smirked. “I’m storing that topic away for future reference. I want to know exactly what you read that made you back away slowly. And I mean chatting in public. You know, with actual words?”
“Never happened. I don’t even know you. Why are you in my house?”
“I see your sense of humor hasn’t improved in the past month.”
“Nothing has improved in the past month,” he muttered.
“Hah! I knew it. I knew you couldn’t be happy out here. I came to chat with you, like we always did. We talk every day and then suddenly poof; you’re gone. No phone calls. No emails.”
His chest tightened. Despite her flippant tone, real hurt flashed through her eyes. He was an asshole.
“It was rude,” she continued. “We almost booted you from the book club, but we decided to give you one last chance. There was a quorum and everything.”
He stared at her for a full beat before his mouth quirked. He couldn’t help it. Everything seemed so fucking amusing when he was around her. She was like some sort of clown, except instead of a red nose and rainbow hair she had a killer smile and black curls he wanted to crush in his hands.
“Have you ever actually been in a book club?” he asked.
“Yes, and we’re reading Lia tells Ethan to stop moping and then he does.”
Sadness weighted his chest, and he closed his eyes. If only it were that simple.
“How’s the boyfriend, Lia?”
* * *
The question stopped Lia cold. It was the same casual way he’d asked after Chris so many times they’d talked. A little playful, a pretense that he didn’t know Chris as well as she did—or better.
Now she heard the bite in the question. The bitterness.
